Can we talk about unmasking?

[Laura Corin]

Scotland is ending all restrictions on 21 March. Until then masks are required in most indoor spaces. 

I haven't been back to indoor dining since this last wave. I'll carry on masking indoors for the foreseeable.  My brother has debilitating Long Covid liver damage, so I know what it can do - he wasn't even hospitalised.

I have accepted a birthday party invitation for April 23 and expect to go unmasked, but they would be fine if I changed my mind .

[Pawz4me]

We've never masked outside. We went back to dining inside restaurants a few weeks ago. It's fine. DH and I have both been vaxxed four times. DS23 lives here and his employer just dropped their mask requirement. We feel okay with that. He's triple vaxxed. I still mask when doing errands (which is mostly just grocery shopping or, now that it's almost spring, for gardening supplies) and probably will continue to mask until the temperature and humidity go up. Although I enjoy the added privacy of masking in public, it does get to me when it's hot and humid. I think DH won't continue to mask; he's really tired of it. The few errands we do are done early in the morning when things are less crowded. Even though we're eating in restaurants a couple of times a week our overall risk exposure is still probably much lower than most people.

[Eos]

On 3/8/2022 at 6:56 PM, Farrar said:

the height of risky for absolutely no tradeoff.

 I just don't see the benefit of not masking for me and my family.

The school district had a long drawn-out public hearing on whether to make masks optional and decided yes, as of today, masks are optional.  Dd's one-act director is continuing to require masks but show choir is not and I am bummed.

I don't mask outside but stand apart from people if I speak with them.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Eos

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

No, we are no longer masking.  We’ve had Covid twice and are vaccinated. I don’t have immunocompromised people in my life other than myself. I’d likely keep masking if I did.

I expect everyone is going to get Covid once a year or more, unless they come up with vaccines that significantly decrease infection and transmission. Even then, I fear that the public’s vaccine goodwill has been used up and people aren’t going to run to get a new Covid vaccine. 

My biggest issue with unmaking is right now is that GI bugs and the common cold are running rampant through the schools. The masks came off two weeks ago and now kids are sick with everything but Covid, but I’m also not convinced that it’s best for our immune systems not to be exposed to things either.

(Also, my hospital locally doesn’t have a single person on their Covid floor or in the ICU with Covid right now, so that makes me feel pretty comfortable)

Edited March 9, 2022 by Mrs Tiggywinkle

[MEmama]

My town recently dropped its mask mandate. I’ll be masking in public for the foreseeable future, it’s just nbd to me and in many ways I prefer it. I don’t generally mask outdoors, but if there is a crowd of people I absolutely do and will continue to. I haven’t eaten indoors since February 2020 and have no plans to start, though I’m okay with eating in outdoor public spaces. Hopefully by the time the weather warms up and I’m able to meet a friend outdoors for coffee, cases will be low enough that chatting spaced and outside will feel comfortable enough without a mask. I expect that will be the case by spring. 

I was extremely nervous about the masking situation when I had my surgery last week and went in assuming I would mask even when I was alone in my hospital room. For various reasons that actually didn’t happen, but it seems to have turned out fine thank goodness. I wouldn’t have intentionally made the decision to not mask, for sure! 

[Tenaj]

We are not masking here.  Numbers are down and everyone in our house is vaccinated.  We are pretty sure most of us if not all, had it in January (I didn't have enough rapid tests at the time but two tested positive).  

It is uncommon now to see masks when out and about.  My dd who lives in a nearby city surprised me by telling me that everyone there is still masking and that you rarely see anyone without their mask in public.  We are only 50 miles away from each other. She thought they may have a county mandate but wasn't sure.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We have reduced our masking because a) we all just got over Covid and b) case counts are much lower in our area. My high-risk kiddo continues to mask at school even though it is no longer required. Aside from having (mild) Covid, he has had the healthiest school year of his life thus far with no colds, flu, GI illness, etc and I want to keep it that way. 🙂 I do continue to mask in most public spaces/large groups because I don't want to get anything else either. 

[MrsMommy]

I'll keep masking until a vaccine is available for the younger crowd, not because I have children who are that age, but because I have friends who do and I want to stand in solidarity with them. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I'm already not masking outdoors unless I'm in a crowded place. I will continue to mask indoors where it's required because I'm not a jerk. But I'm also not going to mask forever. It's not a big deal to do it, but it does make things more unpleasant. Grocery shopping, for example, has gotten so stressful with rising prices and shortages, and masking is just one more layer to make the trip as miserable as possible, so I would love to not do that. We're taking a big, postponed family vacation this summer, and I imagine that will probably be the point where I really drop the mask, because we'll be eating in restaurants for the first time in over two years, and once I've crossed that line, I think not masking other places will follow.

[TravelingChris]

6 hours ago, KSera said:

Certainly it’s been difficult for many with hearing loss. In my life, it has not hit any of my Neurodiverse loved ones or their neurodiverse friends hard, and several of them plan to continue masking even when not strictly necessary. So while there are some who have found masks difficult, including some on the spectrum, I haven’t found it to have much correlation with neurodiversity. 
 

Yes, I have hearing loss and it has made it much more difficult to communicate.  And I will be masking when there are a lot of cases of whatever or if I am in a place where I believe I will get sick-  schools, in particular, cause kids are germ factories.  

[73349]

Mandates in my area are gone, but we will be masking indoors in public for the foreseeable future. No indoor dining or the like. I went to a family birthday party barefaced recently and that felt risky, but we will likely do family gatherings on occasion. (With a preschool-aged cancer survivor in the mix in my local branch of the family, they're definitely willing to cancel if anybody has symptoms or anything.) Vaccination uptake in my state has been poor, and we still average 30-40 deaths a day.
With the track program I wanted to put DS in this spring not available, I was thinking martial arts as a good option for him to try... but now with people going barefaced, I felt I had to find another outdoor option for him instead. He'll be learning to play tennis.

Edited March 9, 2022 by 73349

[mommyoffive]

9 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I live in the same state as Loowit, so we still have a mandate until the end of the week. I just told dh that I actually think that the first month after the mandate is lifted will be the most important month to mask carefully. Just until I see the impact of the mandate going away. I don’t care what others do at this point. 

I agree with that!  If things keep going down after that happens then it make me feel better about unmasking more.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

My town recently dropped its mask mandate. I’ll be masking in public for the foreseeable future, it’s just nbd to me and in many ways I prefer it. I don’t generally mask outdoors, but if there is a crowd of people I absolutely do and will continue to. I haven’t eaten indoors since February 2020 and have no plans to start, though I’m okay with eating in outdoor public spaces. Hopefully by the time the weather warms up and I’m able to meet a friend outdoors for coffee, cases will be low enough that chatting spaced and outside will feel comfortable enough without a mask. I expect that will be the case by spring. 

I was extremely nervous about the masking situation when I had my surgery last week and went in assuming I would mask even when I was alone in my hospital room. For various reasons that actually didn’t happen, but it seems to have turned out fine thank goodness. I wouldn’t have intentionally made the decision to not mask, for sure! 

I am glad your surgery went well.  I was just thinking of you.  I hope you have an easy and smooth recovery.

[historically accurate]

Our mandate ended the last day of Feb, and it was almost instantaneous in my area with the masks coming off. All of us in my household are continuing masking. The two kids who still live with me are going through some medical issues, and neither have been cleared to get the booster (they've had 2 shots). College kid has a surgery coming up after the end of the school year - don't need covid slowing that down. So we will continue to mask. DH's work is mandating masks (they make pharmaceuticals, so line workers already had clean suits including masks, but now everyone must), but I work for 2 libraries, and they are both mask optional (which means nobody at this moment masks).

Youngest masks outdoors since her friends aren't great at social distancing (so many group selfies lol!), so she just masks whenever/wherever they hang out. None of the rest of us mask outdoors but we social distance better. 

My county is still well above 10/100K for cases (on the 4th, it was 16/100K); county next to us where most shopping, etc. is just fell to 9/100K. Positivity is still above 4% for both. So, covid is still out there, and I just don't need that in my life at the moment. 

Summer: I may relax masking a little if we drop to about 5/100K, 1% positivity. I've been contemplating what my line is - a lot depends on what's going on with the kids' health.

Youngest wants to do some sport this spring/summer. If we can swing it, I'm thinking tennis may be a better option than an indoors one. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by historically accurate
clarification

[mommyoffive]

8 hours ago, KSera said:

Do you know how the students there are feeling about it? I don’t know if you have a personal connection with the University. I know for my own college kids, they would by far rather keep mask mandates in place and be able to socialize with friends and carry-on otherwise fairly normally. It seems weird to have the mask mandate be the part they lift while tightening everything else. It makes no sense to me. Clearly it’s been working pretty well with the mask mandate for Harvard so far this year, why make things more restrictive just so that people don’t have to wear masks? I would just really be curious which way the students would prefer, since the prior way was working.

 

I’m keeping my eye on the UK as well. I’m starting to have this hopeful feeling that maybe we really were going to find ourselves coming out of this, but seeing the abrupt upward tick in hospitalizations happening there in all age groups is giving me the sinking feeling that it’s going to be just like the Delta wave all over again. Why don’t we ever learn? I mean, plenty of scientists have been saying loud and clear that this is premature, but the powers that be just can’t seem to learn that lifting things too early just starts a new cycle all over again.

Oh man, I hadn't heard that was happening in the UK.  That makes me so sad.  I mean it is what I was kind of expecting, but still.  I feel like removing all mask mandates is not the right idea right this second too.  In the UK is there some new variant or is this still Omi? 

[Soror]

We haven't been masking outside. For a long time we only did things outdoors with our family group and then things away from people. 

I've not been masking indoors lately since (1) Covid went through our house (brought home by dh who must work in person) (2) I got a booster and (3) numbers have went down. Since then we went out to eat 1 time but sat in a room by ourselves. Truthfully I really don't like eating out and it is expensive so that is a rare occurrence at any time. 

At this point, I'm happy to wear a mask where required or if in company that prefer to mask for whatever reason (although everyone I know aside form MIL are far more relaxed about Covid than I have been- I keep a mask for unknown situations so if I find myself with others that are masking I can mask too so I'm being respectful of them). I've still been avoiding crowded places and people. We've yet to go back to church but I'm feeling nearly comfortable with that. 

 

[AbcdeDooDah]

I haven't masked in months except Costco and my school. Costco dropped the requirement in February, I think. My college will keep the requirement through the spring semester. 

Side note. Through all this, I have become hyper aware of people breathing. 😬I went to our co-op event two weeks ago and we ate at a pizza place. It was packed and very busy. The waiter was delivering pizzas to tables very quickly. As he came out of the kitchen, he puffed up his cheeks and exhaled, like you do when you're stressed.🤢 I was so grossed out and prayed they were not my pizzas. I have lost my appetite for eating out now.

[alisoncooks]

We’ve never masked outdoors. We have been masking indoors (stores and church, but not really during any friend hangouts or family gatherings). We have no problem eating in restaurants — never really stopped.  

[rebcoola]

Our mandates ends the 12th. I intend to keep masking indoors in public. My older kids plan to keep masking for school etc.  I am sure there will be comments around here but I don't care.

[Malory]

Indoor masking requirement was lifted last week, and school masking restrictions will be eased next week. About half of the population is still super cautious, but the other half is more than ready to unmask. We feel comfortable not wearing one. The data from our area don't seem to correlate with mask wearing. 

[regentrude]

4 hours ago, historically accurate said:

My county is still well above 10/100K for cases (on the 4th, it was 16/100K); county next to us where most shopping, etc. is just fell to 9/100K. Positivity is still above 4% for both. So, covid is still out there, and I just don't need that in my life at the moment. 

Wow, we can only dream of numbers that low.
Positivity rate in the county was 7.5% last week. 7-day cases would translate to 70 per 100k. Last week's reported cases among students at my institution would correspond to 180 per 100k! And we all know cases are vastly underreported.

Edited March 9, 2022 by regentrude

[Anne]

As someone who is hard of hearing, I will be glad when people feel comfortable going unmasked.  I did not realize how much I depend on reading lips to really understand what people are saying.

Anne. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Anne

[Clarita]

I, too, have a dilemma now. Our "COVID family" son's preschool is going mask optional. We have to decide whether to continue our playdates or not. I'm not sure I'm understanding what's changed with respect to masking. Just like 2 months we were purchase more heavy-duty masks for everyone and now masks are not needed. 

[SanDiegoMom]

Our school mask mandate is lifting at the end of this week.  Which means my daughter's ballet studio is also lifting the mandate.  Indoors was lifted a few weeks ago. 

My kids will stop wearing them the moment the mandate is lifted.  They are double vaxxed, both had Covid over the Christmas break (extremely mild) and will get the booster soon. (I have heard it recommended to wait on the booster a couple of months after having Covid) 

Our positivity rate is 5 percent or less. 

For us, personally, I see the vaccines as a way to enable us to go without masks.  I do hope masking stays more common -- if everyone masked when they have cold symptoms it would reduce ALL transmission of viruses. But when we are not symptomatic we will not be masking. 

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, Anne said:

As someone who is hard of hearing, I will be glad when people feel comfortable going unmasked.  I did not realize how much I depend on reading lips to really understand what people are saying.

Anne. 

Same here. Dh is retired so we go most places together. But when people are masked and maybe  behind plexiglas, it’s so hard for him to hear. I end up telling him what they say. That just makes him feel so dependent, and it’s hard for him. We’re in an area where few are masking these days and it’s really helping him. I can tell he’s much happier carrying on his own conversations.  He’s very social and I am decidedly not, so I’m glad that masks are going away. 
Dgd is nearly 13 and during the pandemic she has  withdrawn from social situations. I can see the anxiety when I talk to her about going out and meeting new people. She wants to hide behind masks because at least where she lives it discourages a lot of conversation.  But then she says she doesn’t like not seeing faces because she can’t read their expressions…it’s a cycle that seems to be troubling her. 
 

I respect that some people want to mask long term and that they aren’t having issues with it.  But that hasn’t been the experience with my family. 

[ktgrok]

One of my kids is too young to be vaccinated still, which sort of makes the decision for me, you know? As long as we have unprotected kids, we will mask everywhere. I don't want to catch it and bring it home to my kid with no vaccine. 

 

[ktgrok]

5 hours ago, alisoncooks said:

We’ve never masked outdoors. We have been masking indoors (stores and church, but not really during any friend hangouts or family gatherings). We have no problem eating in restaurants — never really stopped.  

I hear this from others as well, and don't quite get it? I'm not judging, I'm wondering why people are comfortable being unmasked in one indoor place (restaurant) but not another (store, church). 

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, Anne said:

As someone who is hard of hearing, I will be glad when people feel comfortable going unmasked.  I did not realize how much I depend on reading lips to really understand what people are saying.

Anne. 

I'm also hard of hearing, and hate masks for that reason...but with an unvaxxed kid - and the entire population of kids under age 5 - being unvaccinated, I with people would stay masked until all those kids can be protected. That age group often doesn't get a very good fit in a mask, even a good quality one, so they REALLY depend on others masking around them. 

Everyone unmasking leaves them so vulnerable, and I'm worried we will have an outbreak in the preschool age range. 

[ktgrok]

7 hours ago, Soror said:

Truthfully I really don't like eating out and it is expensive so that is a rare occurrence at any time. 

 

Yup. Often the food isn't as good as I make myself, it's higher calorie/less healthy, and costs way more. Plus drive time, waiting to be seated, waiting for food. I could cook it myself by then, and for half the cost. 

8 hours ago, MrsMommy said:

I'll keep masking until a vaccine is available for the younger crowd, not because I have children who are that age, but because I have friends who do and I want to stand in solidarity with them. 

Thank you. I feel like i HAVE to get DD4 out of the house now and then, and cases are low right now, but it is so nerve wracking now that pretty much no one is masking. Ugh. She wears a KF94 that fits as well as any I've found, but it still isn't a great fit - their noses are just so small and faces are not shaped for masks. Blergh. 

[Pawz4me]

5 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I hear this from others as well, and don't quite get it? I'm not judging, I'm wondering why people are comfortable being unmasked in one indoor place (restaurant) but not another (store, church). 

I'm guessing for most it's a risk/benefit/overall exposure balancing act. They consider the benefit of being able to eat in a restaurant worth the risk, but (obviously) that can't be done in a mask. Shopping and church can easily be done while masking. Even if you opt to dine in a restaurant, you're still lowering your overall risk exposure if you mask in other places.

[Jean in Newcastle]

23 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm guessing for most it's a risk/benefit/overall exposure balancing act. They consider the benefit of being able to eat in a restaurant worth the risk, but (obviously) that can't be done in a mask. Shopping and church can easily be done while masking. Even if you opt to dine in a restaurant, you're still lowering your overall risk exposure if you mask in other places.

This is true for me.  But also - in my county, until very recently, you had to show your vaccination card or a negative Covid test in order to eat inside a restaurant.  I'm very sad that that is no longer the case. 

[aggie96]

53 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I hear this from others as well, and don't quite get it? I'm not judging, I'm wondering why people are comfortable being unmasked in one indoor place (restaurant) but not another (store, church). 

Just to answer, not looking to debate...

DH and I reason it like this. At a restaurant, we have a table to ourselves, facing inward to our family, or separated by high-back booths. Almost every restaurant from casual to super fine dining has put more space between tables and raised booth backs, not huge distance or every-other table like when they reopened, but not knocking chairs anymore either. Really the only people outside our family that face us are the servers, usually one except when food is being set down at fine dining. People walking by aren't going face-to-face or even directly angled at us or near us for 1-2 seconds. So we feel OK with this risk. I'm in Texas. Our restaurants were closed for a split second (if at all-I can't remember now), and we ate inside after being vaccinated once. Never got sick. In stores/church/stage-performance we masked. Too many face-to-face interactions, someone facing directly at back of my neck for long periods of time, usually warm/balmy venue, etc. Many times we were scorned, again Texas. In fact one a-hole coughed and coughed on me (seemed on purpose) at a theater performance that we attended to support daughter's bestie (finally got to see each other 12+ months). We were the ONLY people wearing masks in there. And this was when seriously ill numbers were high everywhere.

Our masking now is strictly dependent on crowd density, ability to maintain personal space, and what type of crowd/event it is. We no longer mask in stores. DH is vaxxed and boosted. DD's and I are vaxxed. DS is not vaxxed. Obviously, no masks in school, but some kids wear them and seem to be pretty good at putting them on for allergy flare ups and colds (no matter the variety). DS does. 

My crew has always had personal space issues so we are well-trained to assess crowds long before covid.

Just for some more anecdata...7 days after being boosted, DH caught covid. Not sure where because he is the most isolated of us. Then he gave it to me. I was sick to varying degrees for 2 weeks. Stayed in bed 2 days (but could have toughed it out if needed). I've been much sicker with garden-variety colds in the past. And this was no where near as bad as flu. Then DD14 caught it. Very mild. Mostly annoying. She's with us all day homeschooled. Then DS12 caught it. He is only one who ran fever 100.5-101 for 3 days. Lots of snot. Slight cough. Felt tired, but we are all always tired due to our schedules. So it's hard to separate sick-fatigue from ridiculous-school-hours-and-obligation-fatigue. DD16 had a headache. 

While I was sick, my grandmother dies. We had the funeral graveside. Only 2 elderly couple showed and an elderly pastor. I wore a mask and kept my distance. I was given a really hard time for doing it. Afterwards, I took my mask off because my brother really gave me crap about it. I'm not exactly sorry that he got sick 3 days later. He had high fever and rough lungs (weak lungs already). But he's of the anti-vax crowd. I tried to tell him. I tried to protect him. And my kids did not attend because that meant 4 hours in the car with sick me. Too close for even mask protection.

 

Edited for typos

Edited March 9, 2022 by aggie96

[goldberry]

DH and I are healthy and in a low transmission area.  We are happily done masking.   We masked faithfully before and are vaxxed and boostered.  It does feel a little naked, but we both agreed it was time.  Not looking forward to colds/flu again though.  It has been really nice not being sick AT ALL for the last 2.5 years.

[Cordelia]

We're done. DH and I are vaccinated and boosted. Our DC (all age 5 and younger) all had covid over Christmas/New Year's. DH and I did not catch it from them, despite holding them for 12-14 hours a day unmasked. 

[Harriet Vane]

I cannot see unmasking at this stage. The numbers of infections are still high and lots and lots of people died or were hospitalized due to Omicron. And long covid is very, very real--watching a high school friend's life ruined by it has been horrifying for me. By every metric, the pandemic is still ongoing, and people are still vulnerable. We're all tired of masks, but I'd rather wear the mask than deal with long covid.

[SKL]

7 hours ago, Annie G said:

Dgd is nearly 13 and during the pandemic she has  withdrawn from social situations. I can see the anxiety when I talk to her about going out and meeting new people. She wants to hide behind masks because at least where she lives it discourages a lot of conversation.  But then she says she doesn’t like not seeing faces because she can’t read their expressions…it’s a cycle that seems to be troubling her.

The other day, my kid said "I'm going to keep masking at least until Tuesday, because I have a presentation at school and I don't want anyone to be able to see my face."

[SKL]

As far as why restaurants and not churches - for me, it's because of the crowd make-up.  People can choose to stay out of restaurants if they don't want to be exposed to possible germs.  Same is true of church, but church is much more important for many elderly people.  They are there, so I am not, at least for now.

Numbers are falling precipitously here ... I hope it continues and I can feel OK going back to church soon.  Of course that's what I was saying last May/June, and then Delta came along, so who knows.  😞

I have to say that it's a relief to be able to say we already had Covid.  The chances that we are going to spread it after multiple vaxes and an infection seem extremely low.  Even better knowing most of the folks we hang with also had Covid at some point.

[Annie G]

11 minutes ago, SKL said:

The other day, my kid said "I'm going to keep masking at least until Tuesday, because I have a presentation at school and I don't want anyone to be able to see my face."

Our dgd dearly loves book club at the library but they’ve made masking optional and she’s the only one masking. And it’s because she wants to hide behind that mask, which is so sad.  Last time she decided not to mask because she felt like the odd one out. But when she came home she said she barely joined the discussion because she felt so emotionally vulnerable without her mask.  

[Shoeless]

Augh, I just got dinged for jury duty. No one here masks. The county website says masks are required, but that's a wink-wink required thing here. 

Guess I will soon find out how good my masks are. Ugh. 

[SKL]

Oh and my kids just started lifeguard classes.  The instructions say they need to bring a cloth mask.  But there was no mask enforcement at the class.  I assume they dropped the requirement in line with other recent changes.

[wathe]

1 hour ago, Harriet Vane said:

I cannot see unmasking at this stage. The numbers of infections are still high and lots and lots of people died or were hospitalized due to Omicron. And long covid is very, very real--watching a high school friend's life ruined by it has been horrifying for me. By every metric, the pandemic is still ongoing, and people are still vulnerable. We're all tired of masks, but I'd rather wear the mask than deal with long covid.

This.  

Mask mandates will be lifted March 21 here.

The pandemic is not over.  Our percent positivity is 11% here.  PCR testing is strictly limited, such that official case numbers are meaningless.  There are 3 MDs in my department off work with covid this week.  27 deaths in the province just today. 

New long covid studies are being published every week.  None of them seem reassuring.

We'll be keeping our masks.

 

[mommyoffive]

9 hours ago, MissLemon said:

Augh, I just got dinged for jury duty. No one here masks. The county website says masks are required, but that's a wink-wink required thing here. 

Guess I will soon find out how good my masks are. Ugh. 

Oh I am sorry.  That would stress me out so much.   I would bring your best mask.

[SanDiegoMom]

18 hours ago, Annie G said:

Dgd is nearly 13 and during the pandemic she has  withdrawn from social situations. I can see the anxiety when I talk to her about going out and meeting new people. She wants to hide behind masks because at least where she lives it discourages a lot of conversation.  But then she says she doesn’t like not seeing faces because she can’t read their expressions…it’s a cycle that seems to be troubling her. 
 

I respect that some people want to mask long term and that they aren’t having issues with it.  But that hasn’t been the experience with my family. 

This is what has affected my 16 year old daughter -- we moved across the country during the lockdowns, she did almost a full year of virtual 9th grade at a new school (after being homeschooled for years) and now is back at school in masks.  She is already quiet, she really should have had speech therapy as she doesn't speak too clearly unless using a lot of effort, so the masks have made her kind of fade into the background.  

The one day her ballet studio went outside and took off masks and just TALKED, she said she talked more than she ever had before.  I am hoping that will continue once the mask mandate ends tomorrow. 

[ktgrok]

25 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom said:

This is what has affected my 16 year old daughter -- we moved across the country during the lockdowns, she did almost a full year of virtual 9th grade at a new school (after being homeschooled for years) and now is back at school in masks.  She is already quiet, she really should have had speech therapy as she doesn't speak too clearly unless using a lot of effort, so the masks have made her kind of fade into the background.  

The one day her ballet studio went outside and took off masks and just TALKED, she said she talked more than she ever had before.  I am hoping that will continue once the mask mandate ends tomorrow. 

I hate that I want this for everyone, but also need my unvaccinated 4 yr old and all the other kids out there too young to be vaccinated to be safe. 

And that in less than 2 months my kid WILL be vaccinated, and then I have to balance our outings based on that need to protect others. It really is hard. 

I think we will start with rejoining outdoor activities - we dropped even those because the homeschool groups lean WAY more "covid conspiracy" here, and little kids don't social distance. So kids shouting loudly in each others faces in normal, as is picking their nose or wiping a snotty nose then touching each other or each other's things....and if their parents are talking about how Covid is caused by flu shots given to the military..yeah, thats no longer a low risk environment, lol. 

But if DD4 is vaccinated (soon!), we may rejoin the weekly hike/park outings. And do more small get togethers at home, with friends that I know well enough to know they will stay home if any symptoms, and who are vaccinated, boostered, etc. If stuff stays low. But we will keep masking indoors in large public spaces until all kids can be vaccinated. 

[Dianthus]

I don't know that the homeschool groups lean more covid conspiracy here. But they do lean anti vax. I should have realized this earlier in the pandemic, but I'd forgotten. Some family's reason for homeschooling is to avoid the usual vaccinations. They want their child to get natural immunity from measles, why wouldn't they want the same from less severe covid. Omicron raged here with no children hospitalized and few hospitalizations overall. They have likely all been sick by now so it's like being vaccinated. We are doing a homeschool activity this week. It's just really important for my kids to socialize again. And for me too.

 

[ktgrok]

4 minutes ago, Spirea said:

I don't know that the homeschool groups lean more covid conspiracy here. But they do lean anti vax. I should have realized this earlier in the pandemic, but I'd forgotten. Some family's reason for homeschooling is to avoid the usual vaccinations. They want their child to get natural immunity from measles, why wouldn't they want the same from less severe covid. Omicron raged here with no children hospitalized and few hospitalizations overall. They have likely all been sick by now so it's like being vaccinated. We are doing a homeschool activity this week. It's just really important for my kids to socialize again. And for me too.

 

We've definitely had children hospitalized in this area. Florida pediatricians have spoken out about it, etc. 

But I do think at this point that SO many kids here have had it recently that it is as if they were vaccinated - so safer right now than probably any other time. If/When a new variant pops up that previous infection doesn't protect against things will get bad again, so figure we should get out while we can. It's too miserable to mask outside during the day here while hiking or running around on a playground, so we just avoided. But right now, with cases low, most people already having it, I figure we can do stuff unmasked outside once DD4 is vaccinated at the end of the month. (crossing my fingers that we don't get a new variant and new spike of illness right after she gets vaccinated the way we did after the big kids got vaccinated!)

[mommyoffive]

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?  Gosh I hate the parenting choice of this.   

[regentrude]

12 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?

LOL. In my rural conservative city, there hasn't been a masking requirement in a loooong time. I have been forced to teach in classrooms with 100+ students without a masking rule since October. My only protection has been my own N95. So I might as well go other places... can't be worse than work.

Edited March 11, 2022 by regentrude

[Dianthus]

It seems like enough people are still masking in stores that you don't feel entirely weird. I don't know that it's needed. We are pretty socially distanced while shopping, but it's an extra layer that keeps my 7 yr olds hands away from his face.

[Spryte]

27 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?  Gosh I hate the parenting choice of this.   

I have the same question. We desperately want to get out more again, but with immune impaired people, I don’t know what to do. 

We missed another family gathering last night — inside, all unmasked, and I’ve about had it with being the only people who are still thinking about Covid.

[sassenach]

Here to share my unpopular (for this board) opinion but I'm thrilled that the mandates are dropping, especially in schools. I don't think we've even begun to quantify the impact of masked school days on kids. IMO it's not going to get any better than this transmission-wise (in my area). Vaccines are as good as they're going to be for awhile. Omicron blew through and between high vaccination rates/recovery rates, I don't think our community immunity is going to get much better than this. Infections and hospitalizations are in the basement. I'm maskless everywhere but work (healthcare).